Paper company seeks grant for track repair

Irving Tissue is seeking
state funding for a $1 million project that would repair 4,200 feet of railroad
tracks leading to its Fort Edward, N.Y., plant, the Glens Falls Post Star
reports. The repairs to the tracks are needed to accommodate the expected
increase in train traffic to the plant when a new paper machine comes online in
the fall, Fort Edward town Supervisor Mitch Suprenant said.

The track, which runs
across Broadway in Fort Edward, is currently in use. But the volume of trains
loaded with pulp bound for the plant is expected to increase later this year,
Suprenant said.

"That track cannot
handle that much traffic," he said. "That track is going to be used
probably four times more than it is now."

Suprenant joined state Sen.
Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury; Washington County Board of Supervisors Chairman
John Rymph; and Tori Riley, the county's economic development director, in a
meeting with company officials to discuss obtaining the grant money.

The state government would
pay for 60 percent of the project, or $600,000, if the grant is approved. The
other 40 percent would be paid with an interest-free loan that must be paid
back within five years, according to the Department of Transportation. County
officials could send the grant application to the state Department of
Transportation by the Jan. 29, Suprenant said.

"It's a plus for the
whole area, not just Fort Edward," he said.

While the repaired tracks
won't create any new jobs, the construction is expected to retain workers who
have been recently hired by the company, said Rymph.

"It's stimulus, it's
supposed to create new jobs, but also retention of jobs can qualify,"
Rymph said. "Irving has basically tripled the employment of the place
since they bought it."

Local officials estimated
that jobs at the plant have grown from 70 three years ago to more than 300.

The Canada-based company
announced in August 2008 it planned to add 136,000 square feet of production
space to the Fort Edward plant to house a new state-of-the-art paper machine.

Tori Riley said the
company's expansion and railroad repair are not contingent on receiving the
money.

"The expansion project
was moving forward regardless," Riley said. "We were just seeing if
this was something we could help them along with."

The company has already
hired 22 people who would eventually work in the plant's expanded space.

"Irving's really put
in a lot of dedication to being here," she said.

"They know what
they're doing and they bring an awful lot to the region."